Digital solutions allow a new level of flexibility in teaching. Flexibility in time, in teaching methods, and more student choice of teaching and learning tasks let us reach new student groups, and can support student motivation. But too much flexibility may turn teaching into self-studies, typically associated with abysmal completion numbers. It turns out that staff and student interaction and collaboration also are crucial for student learning and motivation! How can we get the best of both worlds?
29.03.2022 - Connecting the Curriculum and Change Making: lessons learned at UCL
Presenter(s): Dr. Jason Davies (Professor at UCL's Centre for Teaching and Learning and a Senior Fellow of the UK's Higher Education Academy)
In 2016, UCL launched its Connected Curriculum strategywhich had two major focuses. Firstly, to put research actively at the heart ofstudent learning – not just learning about research but learning through takingpart in research. Secondly, the creation of the 'ChangeMakers' initiative, whereby studentswould play an active and supported role in shaping the organisation and itshabits.
Six years and one pandemic later (still incomplete),we can see how far the university has got, and it has got a long way.'Research-based education' – students undertaking research – is now common atUCL, and ChangeMakers has developed different strands such as the new 'Student Fellows'role alongside the now-traditional ChangeMakers projects.This talk will highlight some of the results and realities of academicstaking up the challenge of shaping their teaching around students doingresearch, and the way that student input has been supported to create lastingchange in departments and faculties.
31.03.2022 - NGU- The Norwegian geosite database: An educational resource for field course planning and documentation.
Presenter(s): Rolv M. Dahl and Terje Solbakk
What happens when the experienced educator who knows all the best excursion sites, their stories and the “hidden gems”, quits? How can we transfer, develop and store knowledge and information on places of interest to future geological educators and excursion planners? The Geological Survey of Norway (NGU) operates a geological database for geoheritage expressed in “geosites” [norw.: geosteder]. These are sites which represents geodiversity, containing particular value for science, education and tourism/experiences. The database is aimed at land-use planners in order to address sites worth protecting , but also tourism industry, scientists as well as the education sector. iEarth can benefit in finding, identifying and storing information on sites important for education of Earth science. The base can serve as a tool for planning excursions as well as documenting sites of interest for future education on different levels. Being at tool for land-use planners, registration of sites can also prevent important sites for either science or education to be destroyed by infrastructure etc.
28.04.2022 - Cooperation in teaching across institutions: Developing a national course on geohazards.
Presenter(s): Mathilde B. Sørensen (UiB)
The national course on geohazards has been taught in parallel at the Universities of Bergen, Oslo and Tromsø since 2020. The course is taught student-actively in flipped classrooms, and teaching materials have been developed by more than 20 experts from universities as well as public and private sector in Norway. In this presentation I will describe how we developed the course, from the initial testing of methods and materials locally in Bergen, through the major design phase prior to launching the course nationally in 2020, to the continuous and ongoing improvement and updating of the course based on feedback from students and teachers. Developing a course across institutions opens a range of possibilities for better exploiting resources and competences, building networks among students and teachers and developing and trying out exciting pedagogical concepts. However, such effort also comes with significant challenges in coordinating busy people, facilitating good communication and joggling institutional policies and regulations while keeping maximized student learning as a goal. I will specifically discuss the opportunity and challenge that lies in developing a sense of being a “national community” among the students. I will end with summarizing my advice for anyone starting the design of a new trans-institutional course.
